The deaths of five babies are being investigtated by a hospital trust in Northern Ireland.

The deaths are among 11 being examined by the Northern Health Trust, which has admitted it has "fallen short of the standards the public should expect from us".

The issue was raised in the Northern Ireland Assembly by health minister Edwin Poots who said it was unclear whether any of the deaths were avoidable.

But Mr Poots did say that the trust's response to the deaths should have been better.

This was especially true where cases were not identified as "serious adverse incidents", he added.

A statement from the Trust said: "The Trust recognises that, on these occasions, we have fallen short of the standards the public should expect from us.

"More critically we failed to learn from these incidents. To those people affected we apologise.

"While we cannot change that fact, what we can do is learn from our mistakes and how to prevent them in the future. The Trust is committed to a culture of openness and transparency pervades every service we provide."